It’s easy to not notice people. Especially senior year, when the only thing on your mind is life after high school. That can change when someone at your school takes their life.
With only weeks till graduation, a kid I’ve known since middle school committed suicide.We weren’t close friends, in fact we almost never hung out. But I often saw him at school. This year, he even sat in front of me in my 7th period class.
Most of the kids in that class would be disruptive at times. But not him. He was quiet and collected. He would either have his head down or sit at his desk and remain silent. When he did have something to say, he would turn around instead and speak a few words to me.
The day he took his life, it was the first time in that class that I can remember it being quiet. People who didn’t know him were tearing up. It was a wake-up call for me.
I realized each one of us makes up our high school community and every loss is felt….even the ones who keep themselves.